Rick Osborne reviewed The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
An international sensation, this hilarious, feel-good novel is narrated by an oddly charming and socially …
I am far too close to the subject matter to review this objectively
4 stars
3½⭐️/5 (fine, but some quite significant issues)
On the one hand, yay for autism rep in romance, and yay for making the POV MC the autistic one.
On the other hand, making that autistic MC also a buffoon of the “unemotional nerd” stereotype is … a choice, I guess? One could argue that he’s just not interested in engaging in society’s judgment of his differences. And that’s a valid read. But it’s not a particularly positive stereotype, and yet it’s also the stalking horse of the entire story.
There are parts of the autistic POV MC’s experience to which I could absolutely relate. I can’t flat-out say it’s an unrealistic representation. An effort was made?
So … YMMV, I guess.
Tags: #FirstPersonPOV #LearningToLove #Neurodiverse #RomCom #SinglePOV #SlowBurn #StructureMeetsWhimsy
